Abstract
M.Tech. (Architectural Technology)
Contested territories have strongly contributed to
the displacement of people worldwide, resulting
in the loss of the right to belong. Considering the
boundaries of belonging in Mayfair, a marginalised
social landscape in Johannesburg, this architectural
response to a social and urban investigation
will ascertain whether and how architecture can
respond to the global issue of xenophobia.
Johannesburg as uitvalgrond has, since its
founding, offered migrants opportunities for
meaningful participation and self-actualisation. This
reiterates the idea that the city’s in-between spaces
often allow for a new realisation or actualisation of
identity.
The author argues that space-and-place-making
and identity are intrinsically linked - the one
enforcing, defining or denying the Other.
The dissertation conceptualizes how architecture
can acknowledge Mayfair residents’ unique and
evolving post-national identity as a marginalised
community in an young democracy. The study suggests how architecture can give
form to contemporary African public space that
contributes to a sense of belonging for both the Self
and the Other in Mayfair.
The methods used in this study are: observation
through site visits, drawing, on-site interviews and
film; mapping boundaries and edges defining various
ethnic territories, open space network (utilised
and unutilised), mobility, nodes and landmarks,
actual land use as opposed to zoned land use and
experiential observations; correspondence and
discussions, making use of official databases to
research historic maps and photographs; examining
precedents, and applying all of the above into an
appropriate architectural model. Each chapter
concludes with a reflection extracting the most
important notions from that chapter to be taken into
the next section.
This dissertation interrogates the importance and
the role of architecture and public open space in
Johannesburg by exploring new ways of thinking,
doing and making in Johannesburg’s present,
changing urban condition.